Editorial on Currituck Lighhouse
by Cheryl Shelton-Roberts
Cofounder and newsletter editor Outer Banks Lighthouse Society

Fall 2001

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse and the 0.8 acre upon which it sits has been declared surplus government property and will be transferred to a new owner. For the first time in history, the amended National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act 2000 places nonprofits on equal footing with government organizations applying for ownership of lighthouses.

To date, two groups are applying for ownership of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. The first entity is the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc., the current stewards of the lighthouse under a lease with the state. A second entity, the Currituck County Commissioners, also plans to apply for ownership. To date, the county commissioners have not expressed in writing their plans for maintenance or fundraising or how they would keep the lighthouse open for climbing.

The mission of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society (OBLHS) is to aid in the preservation of North Carolina Lighthouses. It is our wish that future generations have the opportunity to see, climb, and understand the history of lighthouses and their vital role in the development of our state and nation. OBLHS will work with any entity that is achieving these goals at NC lighthouses. Foremost, our concern is that each lighthouse be in the hands of a group that cares about the structure, its history, and preservation.

Therefore, the OBLHS board of directors has voted to support the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc. (OBC) to continue as stewards of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Our public support for the OBC is based on their 21 years of work at the light station that realized complete restoration of the tower, keeper's quarters, and other buildings, and publication of oral histories of their keepers' families. They accomplished remarkable restoration without much support from government entities at a time when lighthouses were not considered worthy of public attention. Obviously, lighthouses have now captured the imagination of Americans. And equally, lighthouses have become a great point of pride for the citizens of North Carolina, which is home to some of the finest examples of coastal lighthouses in the nation.

OBLHS also feels that diversity of ownership is key to the survival of lighthouses. In a time when the economy slows, as now, it takes little time for the cutbacks in funding, which dictate priority of federal projects, to reach the doorsteps of our government-owned lighthouses as with Bodie Island. Nonprofits are often in a better position to raise funds privately and accomplish repairs in a timely fashion.

Consider some of the finest restoration projects on the East Coast, and to name some: Montauk Point, Currituck Beach, Tybee Island, St. Augustine, Ponce de Leon Inlet, and Key West- these are all restored, preserved, and maintained by nonprofits. Other nonprofits all over America that have poured years of work and emotions into restoration of lighthouses are watching this case involving the transfer of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.